Quote Originally Posted by DesG View Post
I’ve been obsessed with silencers and quiet loads for years so I will base my answer on my own experience rather than folklaw. You need a really fast powder such as bullseye with around 2gn but be very careful that they are leaving the barrel. Until you get consistency with the loads you need to check the barrel every shot. Some of the cowboy action loads are about as low as you’re likely to get. I experimented with a mod on my 38 u/l many years back and got it down to around unmodded 22rf but really the hole is just too big. I’m shooting in the garden as we speak with my fully modded 22 little badger (open ticket, big garden) and the only sound is the bullet hitting the backstop.

Agree with DesG on this. I have been using the traditional 2.5 to 2.7 grains of Accurate #2 (similar to Bullseye in speed) for target loads in .38 spl and that is way less than the manufacturer's starting load. As DesG says, just be sure that the bullet has left the barrel before firing the next one and as you reduce loads clearly bullets not leaving the barrel is too low so that establishes the floor but leave a bit of a margin for the working load. You might find that the quietest load is not the most accurate.

Interested to hear where you end up with this - particularly if you can chrono them.